Language Barrier
by Useless19
Summary: AU during Babel. The team are trapped within the city for much longer, with no ring power. Prison isn't the most ideal of places to get to know each other better, but it's not like there's anything else to do.


**Language Barrier** \- _AU during Babel. The team are trapped within the city for much longer, with no ring power. Prison isn't the most ideal of places to get to know each other better, but it's not like there's anything else to do._

_AN: Because I loved Babel. I've got translations for what Razer's meant to be saying – Hal doesn't get it right all the time! Translation link in my profile._

* * *

The first time Razer tried to escape the guards confiscated all his knives and turned the electricity barrier on the bars on full-time.

The second time Razer tried to escape, using yet another pair of knives hidden in the soles of his boots, they dragged him off for a couple of hours and returned him shaking with fury and dressed in a loose-fitting jumpsuit Hal could only charitably describe as 'snot-yellow'.

Hal probably would have found it amusing, if the guards hadn't dragged him off next. Presumably since Razer might be able to use components of his flightsuit to try another escape attempt. Before Hal knew it he was stripped, sprayed down with a noxious green liquid, and bundled into a similarly snot-yellow outfit.

Prison, Hal decided as he hacked up some of the green stuff into the toilet, was terrible.

The guards had put Hal and Razer in the same cell, while Kilowog was in the cell next to them on his own. Presumably Hal and Razer were both humanoid enough to look roughly like they were the same species to their captors.

As much as Hal missed having moments of silence, like he could on board the _Inte__r__ceptor_, he was glad he had company or the lack of conversation would have made him climb the walls ages ago. Not that Razer was a very good conversationalist on the best of days and now they didn't even have the advantage of the universal translator to help them along.

"Guard go Hal?" Razer asked, once Hal had finished coughing.

"Assuming you're asking why the guards dragged me off, I guess your near escape made them extra cautious," Hal replied. Razer looked at him blankly, "Ok, you –" he pointed at Razer, "– escape. Guard angry. Uh, let's see if I remember this. Cha tu'lanak'chi. Ch'joop... uh, ch'jump... Dammit."

"Ch'juup targ?" Razer finished, pointing at his red ring, "Guard rage?"

"Yeah, that's it," Hal nodded, "Uh... Che. Yes."

So far they hadn't made much progress with communication beyond the simple things like 'sleep', 'guard', 'food', and the like. Razer seemed to be picking up English quicker than Hal was picking up... whatever Razer's language was called. And Kilowog only cared about the translations for things he could shout across the corridor at them, mostly drills that Hal had successfully avoided since boot-camp. Or so he surmised.

Hal had been woken up at the equivalent of five a.m. too many times to be grateful that they had still managed to communicate with Kilowog.

"Angry is rage?" Razer asked.

"Hm?" Hal hummed around a mouthful of what he dearly hoped was clean water from the sink.

Razer made a noise of frustration, growling through his sharp teeth, as he always did when Hal wasn't paying attention when Razer wanted to learn.

"Hal say –" Razer cut himself off and gave his head a shake, "You say 'guard angry'. Angry is rage. Che? Yes?"

"Sort of," Hal replied, "Angry is only used when it's used with a person. I think. Anger is what you'd use on its own. So, I'm angry, you're angry, guard angry, etc. Rage is anger."

"Say Kilowog angry," Razer tried, "No'say Kilowog anger. Say Rage'Lantern, say Anger'Lantern. Yes?"

"Close enough. Che."

Razer made the hiss in the back of his throat that Hal was only just coming to realise didn't mean something bad. His team seemed much more alien without the rings and separate sleeping quarters to help buffer their differences.

Hal had found out that, despite vanishing into his room back on the ship for much longer times, Razer only slept about six hours for Hal's eight. He also found Hal's need to use the toilet several times a day kind of distressing.

(Which Hal would've found hilarious, but it's difficult to do anything on the toilet when your cellmate was putting so much effort into not paying attention to you that he might as well have been staring).

The beds were worse than on the _Inte__r__ceptor_, and Hal didn't even have the option of creating a construct mattress. Razer seemed to find it easier and, judging by the snores from the next cell over, Kilowog had no trouble sleeping on something Hal could only call a slab of granite.

Hard beds were the least of their troubles at night though.

Hal woke up with a start and took a moment to realise that it wasn't morning yet. He waited, trying to get back to sleep, until he heard a whimper coming from Razer. A nightmare. Hal was mostly surprised that it had taken a full week for one of them to have one.

"Razer, hey," Hal hissed, not wanting to draw the guards' attention. When Razer continued to thrash, Hal got out of bed and slipped over to grab Razer, "Hey, wake up. Razer."

Razer woke with a cry of, "Ilana!"

He noticed Hal and turned his head away, to hide the wetness in his eyes if Hal's guess was anything to go on.

"You wanna talk about it?" Hal offered.

Razer gave him a flat stare. "Tu'capo kluhk abrego il'kepan cha, Hal."

"Right, right, the language thing," Hal said. He took a seat on the edge of the bed and after a moment, Razer sat up and swung his legs over so they were side by side.

Avoiding staring at Razer, Hal slung his arm around Razer's shoulders in a manly hug.

"Tu'sapi che ckehol, Hal," Razer said.

"I'm going to go with 'yes, I want to talk about it, Hal'," Hal said, "So, Ilana then –"

"_Esit tristka ilmayne aska Ilana!_" Razer shouted, wrenching himself out of Hal's grip and fixing a horrified stare at Hal.

"Easy, Razer, easy," Hal said, hands up in the universal sign for surrender, "I overheard your nightmare. That is, you sleep, cha histuth. You sleeptalk, cha histuth-ton?"

"Tu'oboge il'ton'gui fabinct," Razer muttered, "I sleep'say 'Ilana', yes?"

"Che," Hal nodded, "So, what's Ilana like? Let me see... If I say 'what's Hal like', then I'm a Green Lantern and a test pilot," Hal pointed at his ring and then mimed flying a plane. "If I say 'what's Kilowog like', then I'd say Green Lantern –" he pointed at his ring again to make sure Razer got it, "– and drill sergeant."

Razer watched Hal for a long moment, then slowly nodded.

"Just to make sure we've got this, if I say 'what's Razer like'?" Hal prompted.

"I Rage'Lantern," Razer said, "I cine'tofaddi. I..." he mimed unscrewing something, "Cine'tofaddi?"

"I'm guessing engineer," Hal said.

"What's I like? I Rage'Lantern. I engine'er," Razer said.

"Great," Hal said enthusiastically, "So, what's Ilana like?"

Predictably, Razer tensed up. Hal patted the bed beside him and Razer eventually sat down and stared at the floor.

"Ilana..." Razer had to swallow very hard, "Ilana brimt quedi'chuun. Di brimt hogenpu'ul."

"You're going to have to translate that for me," Hal said, "Is she... you said she was she before, didn't you? Ilana's female, che?"

"Seih?" Razer said.

"This is going to be awkward to explain," Hal grimaced, "Let's start with the basics I guess. Hal male, Razer male, Kilowog male. With me so far?"

Another long pause as Razer slowly parsed what he could.

"Hal, Razer, Kilowog. Male," Razer said, raising his ring questioningly, "Male is rage? Male is will? Male is... huul? Is Lantern?"

"No, it's not the rings. Carol is female. Iolande is female. Got it?"

"Dixf Aga'po is female. Atrocitus is male. Yes?" Razer said.

"Yeah, you've got it. So Ilana is female? Che?" Hal asked.

Razer nodded

"Glad we sorted that," Hal said, "So, Ilana is female. She's your sweetheart, isn't she?"

"Sweetheart is...?" Razer asked.

"I get the feeling this is going to take too long for me to be shooting blindly," Hal said, "How about you try to explain who Ilana is?"

Razer was quiet for long enough that Hal's leg started to fall asleep. He was about to shift when Razer finally spoke.

"Hal and Carol, qu'chuun'pi?" Razer asked.

"Whatever you're saying, it's probably too serious for what me and Carol have," Hal said, "So you're saying Ilana's your girlfriend?"

"No'friend," Razer snapped, "You and Kilowog, friend. Ilana _quedi'chuun_."

"That does sound a bit more serious than a girlfriend. Is she your wife?" Hal asked.

"Wife is quedi'chuun?" Razer asked.

"Beats me, but sounds about right," Hal shrugged, "So you're married? I never knew. You could've said something."

Razer went back to staring at the floor. Hal twigged and winced.

"Oh, right, I remember," Hal put his head in his hands, "Ilana's dead."

"Ilana dead," Razer confirmed without looking up, "Tis'hatu shfept."

"I'm sorry, kid," Hal said, putting his hand on Razer's shoulder. He counted it as a victory when Razer didn't immediately shrug him off.

After another quiet strech of time, Razer spoke. "You sleep?"

"Huh?"

"You sleep. Hal sleep?" Razer said, gesturing at Hal's bed, then back to his own, "I sleep."

"Trying to get rid of me, I get it," Hal chuckled, "Ok, I'm going back to bed. I deserve an extra twenty minutes in the morning for this though."

Razer curled up under his blanket as soon as Hal got off the bed. Hal smiled fondly and helped him tuck himself in, despite Razer's annoyed growl.

"Sleep well, kid," Hal said, ruffling Razer's hair and earning himself another annoyed growl.

The next night was less fun.

Hal would later blame the spicy, orange goop they were given for dinner, but whatever the cause, he jolted awake in the middle of the night after seeing a plane explode before his eyes. The same plane as always.

"Dad!"

"Hal, no'sleep!"

Someone was shaking him. Hal lashed out, but his fist was caught and he found himself with a faceful of pillow.

"Hal, no'sleep? Hal say?" Razer, it was Razer pinning him down and he was in prison. Hal groaned into the bedsheets.

"I'm awake," Hal mumbled, "You can let go now."

The hands eased off, but when Hal summed up the energy to turn over he found Razer still hovering over him.

"Cha luek'da? You ok?" Razer asked.

"Yeah, yeah, fine," Hal said, turning to face the wall.

"Cha histuth'kton. You sleep'say 'Dad'," Razer said cautiously, "What's Dad like?"

"What does anyone's dad have to do with anything?" Hal asked the wall. He didn't want to think about it.

"What's Dad like?" Razer asked, more insistently, "Hal say."

"No!" Hal snapped, "Leave it alone!"

Razer forcibly dragged Hal until they were face to face. He looked furious and Hal was pretty sure his own expression was similar.

"I say Ilana," Razer snarled, "You say Dad."

"What does it even matter to you anyway?" Hal shouted, "I had a bad dream and I'm fine now. Leave me alone!"

Razer growled, then started a tirade entirely in his own language. Hal was too pissed off to listen out for any words that he could understand. He rolled over to face the wall again.

Razer's rant tailed off. The blanket pulled as he sat down and put his hand on Hal's back.

"Tu'sapi unghu'at di?" Razer said softly.

Hal sighed. "I can't understand you."

"Dad is female?" Razer asked, "Dad is wife?"

A hysterical laugh bubbled up, which Hal barely managed to cover with a snort. "No! Dad definitely isn't either of those."

"Dad is no'female," Razer hissed through his teeth as he searched for the right word, "Dad is male. Yes? Dad is queri'chuun... no'wife?"

"Dad is male," Hal nodded, turned to face Razer as the confusion in his voice grew, "I don't think you've got the second half of that right though."

Razer just watched, waiting for Hal to continue.

"Alright, alright. I'll try to explain," Hal grumbled, sitting up and rubbing his eyes, "Say you've got a man and a woman, uh, a male and female. They can have a baby. If they do, then the male is dad. Got it?"

"Male is Hal," Razer said cautiously, "Female is Carol. Baby is...? Baby is Dad?"

"No!" Hal waved his hands frantically in negation, "No!"

"Hal is Dad?" Razer asked, bewildered.

"No! Let me try again," Hal said. He had a fleeting wish that he was back on Earth and it was Guy trying to give the Talk to a confused alien. "If you've got a male and female, they can make a baby," Hal rocked his arms like he was holding a baby, "See, baby."

"Male no'baby is Dad?" Razer asked.

"I think you've got it, though you need to seriously cut out the negatives," Hal said, "Mom, dad, baby."

"Dima, rima, tlu'ma," Razer said. "Mom, dad, baby."

"Right, so my dad, he died," Hal said.

"You dad dead," Razer confirmed, "You here?"

"Yeah, I'm still here," Hal said.

"Tis'hatu shfept," Razer said, carefully placing his hand on Hal's shoulder.

"Thanks, kid."

Escape a few days later was easier than Hal ever dreamed of. A giant alien, a Manhunter head, and Green Lantern's light. Hal had never been so happy to see the stars again. They'd even managed to grab their confiscated equipment on the way out and Hal was enjoying being back in fitted clothing.

"At least I can stop listening to you butchering my language," Razer commented once they were back out in space.

"Me? If you had to listen to the way _you_ were abusing English you'd have gone insane," Hal shot back.

"I'm thankful for soundproofed rooms again," Kilowog said, "If I had to listen to you two flappin' your traps all night long again, Razer wouldn't be the only one with a red power ring."

Razer quickly focused on the control panel in from of him and Hal gave Kilowog a look that he hoped expressed his disapproval properly.

"What? It's not like I could understand anything," Kilowog said defensively. He threw his hands in the air when Hal continued to glare, "Fine, I get it. Everyone has nightmares and if talkin' about it helped, then it helped. It's just weird when your name keeps comin' up when the talkin' happens."

"I'll try not to bring you up next time," Hal said, smiling again.

"Too right, you'd better not," Kilowog grumbled, as he went to check on his own station.

Hal approached Razer and placed a had on his shoulder.

"I don't require assistance in my task," Razer said, eyes staying on the console.

"Kilowog was right, talking helped," Hal said.

"Even if we couldn't understand each other?"

"Especially then, it means we got the important stuff across. Like my pep-talk," Hal said cheerfuly, "Anyway, what I'm trying to say is, thanks, and if you ever need to talk after... if you ever need to talk, you can come to me."

"Thank you, Hal," Razer said, finally looking up, "The same offer applies for you, should you need it."

"Thanks, kid," Hal said, "Now let's find Aya."


End file.
